Delusions of Grandeur
by Peeves and Ronni
Summary: Little more than a whim had brought Emerald to Vale, and some semblance of a man had become the one thing keeping her there. Pre-RWBY AU where Emerald traveled to Vale before meeting Cinder, I know I'm going to hell for this, say hello to Gemthief.
1. New Territory

**New Territory**

The kingdom of Vale was not a quiet one. Day or night, the streets bustled with activity, from civilians to huntsmen, people of all ilk traveled here, and, well, Emerald Sustrai would be lying if she said she didn't appreciate the diversity. A quick slip through the main square had left her with the contents of twenty different wallets before twilight, all from equally amusing people with equally amusing reactions to realizing that someone had taken their money. It was nice to know that the trip over from Vacuo hadn't left her rusty. Emerald wandered the streets a little longer, taking in the sights curiously before spotting the Vale Museum just on the edge of downtown.

She smirked at the clearly lacking population near the building, and with only a moment more of consideration, she jaywalked across the empty street and began climbing the steps to the public monument. She had never been one for history, but…sometimes the myths that normal civilians believed in gave way to the most amusing…and most profitable artifacts in the underground. A gentle summer breeze swept against her just before she cleared the entrance, and she passed a small family of patrons as one of the security guards approached her.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but the museum closes in five minutes. We close early on Sundays," the guard spoke nervously, causing Emerald to smile and feign something that resembled polite sincerity.

"Oh, well…would it be alright if I used the bathroom real quick? I really, really have to go," she gave the guard her best set of Bambi eyes and watched him wither slowly.

"A-Alright, just be quick, okay? The curator doesn't like it if I let people in after the admissions desk closes."

"Of course! Thanks a lot, I'll be out of here before you know it," Emerald punctuated her little act with a light jog towards the restrooms, smirking as she turned the corner. She had no need to overstay her welcome, yet…breaking the rules made the trip all a little more interesting. So she waited, out of sight for a few good minutes before coming out and sending a hallucination towards the lone guard by the front desk, and while her illusion made its way for the exit, she slipped into the closed exhibits unnoticed.

Emerald folded her arms back behind her head, scanning the contents of the exhibits for anything that might catch some interest on the black market until her eyes fell upon a lone stand sitting in the center of the exhibit's second room. It had a single, intricately engraved blade on it—a scimitar, if she remembered rightly, with a leather bound hilt and a single crimson tassel hanging off the end. The girl's smirk widened—sure, it was risky, but if she could find a buyer, the payoff would make it more than worth the effort.

So she waited once more, letting the museum close around her, and eventually, the lights went out room by room with a series of loud clacks, and the nervous guard she had met at the entrance started his first round of the night. Slipping into the shadows at the edge of the first exhibit had been a breeze, coming out of the shadows once she was in the clear had proven a mistake rather quickly, for she made it no farther than two steps into the second room before two large, gloved hands came around her mouth and her waist and pulled her back into the second room.

"I thought we agreed that you were staying home this time."

Emerald's eyes widened as she heard a man's voice against her left ear, before her expression hardened into a glare and she struggled against him, managing to elbow her attacker in the stomach before swerving around to face him, her hands hovering over her revolvers. The man coughed a little as one of his hands guarded his stomach, and soon his face had risen to meet hers. They stood there in silence for a few moments, studying each other with cautious expressions, before he stepped forward and spoke again.

"Huh. So I guess you aren't Neo then. I was wondering how you'd managed to reach my shoulders."

"Who are you?" Emerald hissed threateningly as her hands curled around her weapons.

"I could ask you the same thing, doll face," the man noted as his one visible eye wandered her frame.

"D-Doll face?" Emerald repeated in disbelief, her eyes widening as she backed away, and unsheathed her guns, pointing them directly at the redhead. "I asked you a question."

"You could always try to be respectful and introduce yourself first. The least you could do if you're gonna put me at gunpoint right away."

She growled a bit, her brow furrowed menacingly before she spat out an answer. "Emerald. Now answer my question before I fill you with bullets."

"Roman Torchwick, at your service. Now, would you mind explaining to me why a foreigner has their eyes on my job?"

Emerald stared at the man in shock as he leaned on his cane and smiled at her mockingly. "You're at gunpoint, you're not the one who asks the questions."

"Sweetheart, we both know that you can't fire those without alerting the guard and triggering an alarm. Not to mention that I can dodge to my left or right and you still have a zero percent chance of doing any actual damage in the first shot."

"What do you—"

"Aura, kid. Need I say more?"

She let out a soft groan before lowering her guns. "Great. So you won't die quickly."

"Aw, does that put a damper on things for you? I am sooo sorry. Why don't you sit back and leave the stealing to the professionals, hm?"

Emerald rolled her eyes at that. "Right, like you can really call yourself a—what?!" She gasped as her eyes returned to the man—or rather, where he had been—and she swerved on her heels in search of him. "What the hell?!" Emerald stomped forward into the second exhibition, a soft pout gracing her features as she scanned the room for "Torchwick". Weird name, she noted briefly as she considered his disappearance. He certainly didn't seem like the type of person that was hard to miss. Even if his orange hair hadn't been bright enough to stand out in the shadows, he had styled his bangs rather uniquely over his right eye, and he had been wearing _white_ —honestly, of all the colors a thief could wear…

Emerald let out a soft huff as she took another step towards the artifact, minding any security that surrounded the scimitar before she heard a soft click to her left. She swerved towards the sound immediately, her eyes narrowed as she searched the empty hall for signs of Torchwick, only to sigh a moment later in defeat before turning to the now empty pedestal of the scimitar. Her eyes widened again in shock as she stepped away. "What in the…"

"So. You were saying?"

She jolted as Roman's voice sprung up to her right, and her gaze swung towards him as he leaned towards her, a mocking smirk playing on his lips as he pulled the scimitar out from behind his back. "How did you—"

"I'm a professional, doll face," he replied simply before strolling back through the first hall. "Better luck next time."

"H-Hey!" Emerald started forward to keep up. "That's my steal!"

"Oh? How do you figure?"

"I saw it first!"

"Please, doll face. I've put at least a week of planning into this heist, I guarantee that you didn't see it first. Especially since you still have your travel pack on you. You literally just got into town, didn't you?"

She growled again, but didn't answer, and he chuckled before a soft gasp sprung up behind them. They both turned to see the anxious night watch, who had apparently heard the sound of their bickering from the third hall. Roman let out a soft sigh as he shifted slightly and raised his cane up towards the guard.

"And here I was hoping not to have any…accidents," he sighed, but before he could make another move, Emerald had recognized his intentions and had taken the liberty of sneaking up behind the guard and knocking him out. She studied the end of his cane cautiously, recognizing the gun-scope after a few moments. Weird place to conceal a weapon, she thought. Was anything normal about this guy? Roman tilted his head and offered her an indifferent expression in response. "I had that under control, you know."

"Leaving a body behind would make authorities more eager to find us."

"And contrary to that, a corpse wouldn't be able to tell those same authorities what I look like. I'm safer if I kill him."

"No," Emerald replied firmly, "He'll be out for a few hours, and by then, we'll be long gone. I doubt he'll be able to give them an accurate idea of what we looked like."

Roman sighed and lowered his cane, "Alright then. Not like I have to worry much if they know it's me…see you around, doll face." He walked a little further out of the exhibit before stalling again and turning back to grace her with an impish grin. "Oh, and welcome to Vale."

Emerald's glare hardened on Torchwick's back until after he'd disappeared from view, and after a few moments of silent aggravation, she turned back to the exhibit and looked for another prize. On one hand, she hoped that she'd never be unfortunate enough to meet Roman Torchwick ever again, but…

She had the sinking feeling that this would be far from their last encounter.

oooOOOooo

 _Gemthief trash Peeves reporting in…yeah…I fell into this idea hard. So the basic of the basic to this AU is that instead of being whichever kingdom she was in (Vacuo, in this story) and meeting Cinder, Emerald decided to move to Vale for unspecified reasons –cough- because I am trash –cough-. So…pre-RWBY, by…I wanna say two years? The timeframes aren't entirely hashed out. Special thanks to tumblr user emeraldpickpocket for letting me borrow a few of their headcanons, they are awesome, and ver nice, many thanks for this._

 _So_

 _Gemthief trash Peeves out until next chapter_


	2. A Three Man Job

**A Three Man Job**

Morning over Vale was slow; recovery from the chaos that had conspired by the dark of the night made for the softest atmosphere the city ever managed. A lazy energy swept along the streets as the morning workers returned to their posts, and all the while, men and women like Roman Torchwick observed the daily ministrations of the common man from afar, having long since removed themselves from the monotony of it all. Well, Roman had removed himself, he couldn't speak for the upper class, but if he was going to line his pockets with their allowances, then he wasn't about to complain.

There was never a shortage of greed in the market for the one percent, no matter how much the privileged had, they always wanted more, and that meant job after job for Roman, and lucky for him, it was generally a one or two man job—nothing too risky, but still just dangerous enough for the heist to fill him with excitement. He'd never accepted a job that would need three people, no matter the pay…and yet, for the entire morning, he'd found himself staring at this request, organizing the heist over and over in his mind and coming up to the same common denominator each time. This was, in all certainty, a three man job, and yet, Roman still didn't want to decline.

He thought that, perhaps it was the hefty payoff, maybe because the request was from a frequent client…that he felt like living dangerously, for once in his life. Roman would have to hire a third man for this job no matter what; he risked betrayal on a level he was not normally comfortable with, but the payoff…even with the job split in thirds, it was more than Roman and Neo usually made in half a year. Roman tapped his fingers against the coffee table as he took another sip of his water. He leaned back on his leather sofa and considered it further, wondering why he was so stuck on this job when he had no third man to fall back on.

Suddenly, he smirked, realizing at once that there was a factor he was missing. There was a third man he could fall back on, and there had been for about a month now. Well, _she_ would probably be interested, if anything. Roman lifted himself of the couch with a soft sigh, allowing the small female leaning on him to flop down on the seat gracelessly. She apparently didn't approve of losing the support, seeing as he felt one small hand tugging at the hem of his shirt while he was stretching. Roman glanced back and snorted as he caught sight of Neo's pouting face, which only made her scowl more.

 _"Rude,"_ she signed quickly as Roman leaned down to grab his glass of water.

"Your fault for choosing to use me as a pillow after ten o'clock."

 _"Still rude."_

"Hm…maybe a little. But I promise it's for a good cause."

 _"You're letting me fall on my face for a 'good cause'? Did hell freeze over while I was sleeping?"_

"Good for us, Neo," Roman clarified with a wry grin, "I'm not speaking for anyone else involved."

 _"Ah. So you chose our next job then? Which is it?"_

"Top of the pile."

Neo turned to look at the pile and Roman took the moment to walk to the closet and get his coat, slipping it over his shoulders with ease before he heard Neo knock on the coffee table to get his attention.

 _"The dragon statue?"_

"That's the one."

 _"It seems a little too tricky for just the two of us."_

"And that…is why I'm going to get a good friend of ours to help out."

 _"A friend? Roman we don't have any other…"_ Neo paused mid-sign, her brow furrowed and her lips pursed as she considered his statement again. After a moment more, her eyebrows rose as she realized what he meant. _"…Her?"_

"But of course."

 _"If memory serves, you two tried to shoot each other last time we ran into her."_

"She got in my way in the middle of a heist, I got frustrated."

 _"She also hates your guts. Very openly."_

"Bet you she'd be willing to warm up to me for the number of zeros on that paycheck."

 _"You can't buy her loyalty."_

"I can until the job's done. She won't kill us, and she won't turn us in. Sure, maybe she's not what we would call a friend—"

 _"Nuisance is a more appropriate term."_

"But we know her better than any hired gun that we could get for this job."

 _"So choose a different one."_

"I could do the others in my sleep, on my own and with my hands tied start to finish. Not to mention that they're far below our pay grade."

 _"I'm not gonna change your mind on this, am I?"_

"I wouldn't choose this job if I wasn't confident that we could make it work in our favor, you know that."

Neo let out a soft huff before signing again. _"Fine. But if she pulls any funny business I won't hesitate to behead her."_

He chuckled as he pulled his gloves on and fixed the straps. "I expect nothing less," he murmured as grabbed his cane and sauntered towards the door, "I'll be back in an hour or so, hopefully with company. Don't burn the house down while I'm gone, okay?"

 _"I make no promises."_

Roman smirked as he made his way out of their apartment, spinning his cane a little as he whistled to himself. At the moment, he had no idea what hole she'd hidden herself in, but all things considered…apartments would be really difficult to acquire if you didn't know how to fabricate an alias, and on her budget, he doubted that she could even afford one, let alone any hotel rooms. That left the abandoned buildings and warehouses, likely the ones in the Industrial District, since the police force in that area was so laughably bad that you could probably steal from the locals every night for half a year and still not get caught.

He considered this further as he walked, scanning his mental map of Vale for the building that a smart homeless person would shack up in, and more specifically, a smart person who knew they might be pursued by dumb cops. Two buildings came to mind: the warehouse farthest from every store in the district, and the abandoned office building a mere block from the police station. While the warehouse had the con of being a fair distance from any possible jobs, the cops in the area would think it was too out of the way to be a thief's hideout. But then, he was pretty sure she didn't own a car, so that one was unlikely.

So that left the office building, whose downside was easily an upside—its proximity to the station meant that the imbeciles figured no thief would have the guts to use the building, and since they blared their sirens every time they left the damn station, it was easy to figure out when they were coming for a perimeter check. Roman smirked as he made it to the building's elevator and pressed the call button; the soft ding of a bell signaled its arrival moments later, allowing the man to step into the box and press the button for the car lot that made up two thirds of the building's first floor. Getting to that office building would be as easy as stealing candy from a baby, convincing her to work with him…now that would take a little more effort.

He could manage it though, he told himself as he exited the elevator and strolled towards his black sports car. It was a matter of simple persuasion, and she would probably like the pay off more than she hated him. Roman started up his car and drove out of the lot towards the Industrial District, parking a block away from the office building a mere ten minutes later. It would be better if she didn't know he was coming right away, so he utilized his semblance as he entered the building, only to find the lobby entirely barren.

"Now…if I were you…which floor would I be staying on…?" Roman murmured. If it were him, he'd likely take the top floor, but then, he always held a bias to the top floor. Logically speaking, the place that allowed the most activity at any hour was the basement—large open space, no windows…it might not be pretty to look at but was a good hiding place. He'd check at ground zero first then, he thought as he strolled forward to the staircase down the first hall.

"You sure know how to pick 'em…" Roman muttered after descending the stairs and opening the cellar door to find the boiler room immediately. He was beginning to think "ugly" wasn't harsh enough for this living space, even if it was still conveniently fitted with running water and electricity, it still looked like the pits. Roman scowled as he maneuvered through the narrow halls into the wide open space that used to be the maintenance room, where, luckily enough, he found immediate proof of her presence here, as she was a mere few yards away, comically hanging laundry in a room with no windows.

He smirked a little at the endeavor and studied her, noting the loose white t shirt and grey shorts that had replaced her usual capris and tank top. Her green hair was held up in a messy bun instead of the usual low ponytail, though she was still wearing her usual flats on her feet (the floor was likely too dirty to go without them.) He glanced around the room briefly while he leaned on the door frame, examining the makeshift bed she'd set up a few meters away, the moderately sized stack of rations in the corner, and her weapons belt and ammunition. So she wasn't armed—well, she was just out of arms reach. At least he didn't have to worry about being shot at immediately.

Roman's smirk widened into a grin as he finally stopped using his semblance and addressed the girl. "I must say, you live quite comfortably for a street rat."

Emerald jolted at the sound of his voice, swerving towards him immediately with eyes as wide as saucers. "Y-You—!"

Roman grinned a little wider at her surprise. "Hello again, doll face."

oooOOOooo

For what it was worth, there was a lot about Vale that she'd actually enjoyed since moving, new sights, new people, new challenges, dumber cops…she appreciated almost everything about the city. Everything except him. Roman Torchwick, master thief and self-proclaimed king of the underground, and her one biggest nuisance on every larger job she'd had—or rather, attempted to have. For some unfathomable reason, every artifact that ever caught her eye already had a buyer—and that buyer conveniently always hired Roman and his little henchman, Neo, if she'd heard the name right. She hadn't gone looking for a bigger job in over a week—running into Roman over a dozen times in one month wasn't worth the possibility of better pay.

But of course, her luck was even worse than she thought, for here he was, standing smugly in the door frame of her makeshift home and eyeing her with an expression that reeked of amusement. The bastard was probably enjoying her shock. Momentarily, she reminded herself that the situation could have been worse—she could have been doing her laundry shirtless, like she had in the three weeks prior to this. Emerald let out a low growl and glared daggers into the man.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I would think it obvious."

"If it were obvious, I wouldn't bother asking. Tell me why you're here, jackass."

Roman's grin softened into a smile and he tilted his head. "I was trying to find a street rat," he murmured, "And look whose little mouse hole I found."

"I'm not sure I want to know how you found me here," Emerald hissed as she glanced between him and her weapon. His eyes traveled with hers, and he let out a soft chuckle.

"Please, doll face. If I had come here to attack you, I wouldn't get your attention first."

"I doubt it's any surprise to you, but I don't really care what you want me for. I'm not interested," Emerald returned to her laundry, figuring that the gunfire would draw more police fire than she needed right now. She really didn't want to move buildings.

"You wound me, doll face."

"And for the last time, stop calling me doll face. My name is Emerald."

"Oh? How about Em, then?"

Emerald withered slightly and looked back at him with exasperation. "No. For the love of all that is holy, no."

"…Em it is."

She groaned and buried her face into one of her sheets. "I actually liked this city before I knew you lived in it."

He laughed at that. "Just hear me out, doll face, I have a job offer that might interest you. If you play your cards right, we could both walk out winners."

Emerald stalled at that and looked up at the man incredulously. "Is that some sort of sick joke?"

"I'm not sure I understand your meaning, doll face."

"We could both walk out winners? Why in my right mind would I ever work for you? Hell, why did you even think to ask? Did you really come looking for me for this bullshit?"

"I figured you might be willing to sort out our differences, considering the pay."

"You couldn't pay me a million lien to work with you!"

"Alright, how about five times that?"

Emerald stopped again, partially dumbfounded by the amount of money and partially dumbfounded by his refusal to accept no for an answer. "Th—The size of the paycheck was not up for discussion," she stammered as she swirled back on her heels and hung her sheet. Sadly vocally faltering in Roman's presence was something she already knew wasn't a good idea.

"You didn't sound quite so certain about refusing that time."

"N-No, I'm just shocked that anyone would pay an asshole like you that much money."

"Actually the full paycheck is fifteen million lien, so five million is just your cut."

"…You'd give me a third of your pay if I helped?"

"I'm a thief, not a con artist," Roman replied with a simple shrug.

"Could have fooled me," Emerald muttered as she hung her last piece of laundry.

"Well, if you change your mind in the next fifteen minutes, I'll be waiting outside for you. Ta ta now, doll face."

Emerald growled a little at his departure but chose not to voice a reply. Was it…crazy of her to actually consider his offer? Sure, she might absolutely despise Roman, but five million lien…she could do so many things with that. She could stash it and use it to hole up here for a while, she could use it to fly back to Vacuo and get away from Roman, she could buy a home in the city…and she'd probably still have plenty of money to spare. And he wasn't…absolutely impossible to live with, in fact, he'd only bothered shooting at her during one of their encounters, and admittedly, she'd provoked that.

And to top that off…well, she was a little curious. Fifteen million lien for a theft? She honestly wondered what could make it worth the money, it was probably something really dangerous…and risky. Roman probably knew that would grab her attention—there was something extra thrilling about successfully pulling off a risky job; it was an experience she'd never truly had yet, and one he'd likely experienced more times than he could count. Pickpocketing was safe…easy…this, though? It had the potential to be…fun.

Emerald bit her lip and considered it further, wondering if she'd have to kill anyone on his request. He probably knew she wouldn't by now, but she might wanna lay it down as a ground rule. She hesitated at that, her eyes flitting between her weapons and the laundry line briefly before she let out a soft groan. She'd probably regret taking the offer in less than an hour, but…her curiosity was piqued. Emerald stomped to the other end of the laundry line and unclipped her capris and tank top, slipping them on as quickly as she could before picking up her weapons and strapping the holster back over her hips.

Fifteen minutes was a steep changing time, she thought irritably as she fixed her hair on the way out the door, making it outside just in time to watch Roman start the engine of a black sports car. She paused again—maybe he'd leave before noticing she'd come out, maybe she'd lost the offer—but mere seconds after the thought crossed her mind, he locked eyes with her and smirked, causing her to let out a short huff and stomp towards the car.

"I'm not going to kill anyone," she said flatly as she lowered herself into the passenger seat.

"I didn't expect you to," he replied softly as he took the car out of park.

"And no skimping anything off my cut of the pay. I get my five million, and you and what's her face take care of any expenses on your own."

"That seems a little unfair, don't you think?"

"Do you want my help or not?"

"I never said I wasn't okay with that, doll face," Roman noted wryly as he turned onto the main road and leaned towards her slightly, "And for the record, my partner's name is Neopolitan. I'd suggest you address her by her full name at first. She doesn't like you very much."

"The feeling is mutual. So are you gonna tell me what this job is?"

"No."

"Excuse me?" Emerald's eyes narrowed on the man as he chuckled lightly. "I'm sorry, but if you want my help, then I need to know what I'm helping with."

"On one hand, you should have clarified that before you got in the car—"

Emerald let out another offended gasp and Roman cut himself off briefly to laugh before continuing.

"But on the other, the only reason I'm not going to explain it is because you'll get all the details when we get to our next stop."

"Oh, that's just perfect," Emerald replied snarkily, "I love waiting for critical information. Do you think you could at least tell me where we're going?"

Roman snorted at her again. "No need to be snappy, doll face. If you must know…we're paying a visit to our client."

oooOOOooo

 _Gemthief trash Peeves reporting in…ten years later…_

 _Yeah this muse…this muse is a tricky one. It's here but it's elusive, and the fact that my Emerald muse is just starting up doesn't help that. So hi. I exist again. Now then, for those of you who would like to know what Roman's car looks like exactly, imagine the really nice car they fixed up in Better Off Dead. If you've never watched Better Off Dead, well one, watch it, two, just search up "better off dead car" in google it'll be your first image result. So…reviews._

 _To those who already ship: Wow that was fast._

 _StellatheReviewer: I admittedly think that the reasoning you gave likely fits. Like maybe in main verse Em had the option to go left or right and in one direction was the deadend where she met Cinder and the other was her escape to Vale. Maybe._

 _YmaSumac: I like her with Mercury attached too tbh, this is mostly an exploration of how Em might have differed if she never met Cinder_

 _So…do expect these updates to be spread out. My RWBY muses have been phenomenally quiet as of late, and while I'm making progress on all my stories, it's phenomenally slow, sometimes I'll get one sentence for an entire week, other times I'll get a whole chapter in a day, my muses are not generally on schedule. But…thanks for sticking around ^^_

 _Gemthief trash Peeves out until next chapter._


	3. The Rich and the Damned

**The Rich and the Damned**

Emerald's eyes hadn't stopped wandering the abnormally clean city streets of uptown Vale for several minutes now. It didn't surprise her that their client was a member of the elite, but…she'd never really stepped foot in any neighborhood like this. It was even cleaner than she'd expected. As Roman parked the car next to one of the many towering buildings, Emerald watched as the elite passed by in designer dresses and suits, and she wondered how they were supposed to walk through this area unnoticed.

"How do you walk around here freely and not get caught?" she spoke softly as Roman gave the engine a moment to stand.

"It depends," he replied as he trained his eyes on the sidewalk outside his window. "Sometimes I use my semblance, sometimes a disguise, and then…sometimes I use the people. And, it does help that the upper class has an unspoken rule."

"A rule?"

"Most of the one percent employ criminals or break the law, so as long as there are no cops nearby…" Roman leaned towards the window a little as his eyes traveled down the street. He unlatched the door moments later and continued speaking. "Then thieves like us are in the clear. We can get out now. I'd recommend that you stay close to me. Unless, of course, your semblance happens to work well in crowds."

Emerald shuddered a bit as she unlatched her door. "Hell no. The migraine from that could probably kill me."

"Thought so…" Roman smirked as they both lifted themselves out of the car, and Emerald reluctantly followed his signal to walk next to him. "Our client lives on the corner, so we shouldn't have any trouble there. That said…"

"What?"

"I need to use my semblance to get into his condo, so you'll need to hold onto me."

"…I'm sorry, could you repeat that? It almost sounded like you wanted me to punch you."

"It's a quirk of my semblance, doll face, not an attempt to flirt. You may be easy on the eyes but you're still just a little too young to catch my interest."

"I rather avoid any and all physical contact with you, thanks."

"You might need to get over that a just a little bit, doll face."

"When hell freezes over. Or when you stop calling me doll face. Whichever one takes longer."

"You wound me."

Emerald rolled her eyes at his sarcasm as she followed him into grand hallway of an extravagant apartment building, and her eyes wandered the space only briefly before she felt Roman lean close to her left ear.

"Careful Em, you'll make your station too obvious."

She jolted a bit as he whispered to her, backing away immediately with a retort just on the tip of her tongue, only to bite it down when she realized how quiet the lobby was. As much as she hated to admit it…he wasn't wrong. Sadly he seemed to recognize her understanding, and smirked a little wider and offered his arm out to her. She growled and crossed her arms in response. "What part of 'when hell freezes over' did you not understand?"

"Just entertain it long enough for us to sneak in, then you can go back to keeping your distance."

Emerald glared at Roman and moment longer before letting out a soft groan and slipping her left arm through his right. "This job better be worth it."

"It will be, trust me at least on that."

She huffed slightly at that, but the air between them settled again as they walked, seemingly unnoticed, past the front desk and towards the elevators. Emerald's brow furrowed a little as they walked out of the lobby unperturbed, and then passed several people on the way down the hall. No one seemed to pay them any mind, even though they both stood out. By the time they'd reached the stairs, she found herself curious enough to ask. "Okay, what did you do?"

"I told you already, doll face. I need to use my semblance to get into our client's condo," Roman replied softly, "Lucky for you that I can extend the effect to one other person."

"So…what is it then? Invisibility?"

"…We'll go with that for now."

Emerald studied the man a little longer as they started climbing the stairs, but it didn't take long for her to tire of the activity and turn her eyes away. She began focusing on the details of the stairwell, already vaguely wondering if five million lien was really worth all the arguing and awkward silences. The amount of energy she'd waste just by being around him was liable to give her the world's worst migraine, unless by some miracle, he stopped being a jackass, or she found it in herself to adjust to that. Neither were likely at this point.

Part way up the third flight of stairs, Roman hesitated; his easy smirk dissipated and he swore softly under his breath. Emerald's brow furrowed as she glanced at him in confusion, only to have him pull his arm away from her as he brought his fingers to the bridge of his nose. "…Christ. I can't believe that I nearly overlooked that detail…"

"What detail?" Emerald asked, her uncertainty permeating her voice as she took a step back on the stairs, only to have him wrap a gloved hand around her upper arm to prevent her escape.

"Don't run," he spoke softly, "If you run, it won't end well for either of us."

Her eyes narrowed into a glare at that. "Exactly what detail did you forget?"

Roman let out a sigh, clicking his tongue in irritation before speaking again. "Our employer, Cinzento—he likes to test the criminals under his employ. That's why we have to sneak in."

"Yeah…and? We were already doing tha—"

"What I forgot," Roman interjected as he finally turned to make eye contact with her, "is that he likes to see how the new hires do on their own. If I help you sneak in…" he trailed off and looked away, and Emerald felt a pit of fear fall into her stomach as she struggled to swallow.

"What happens?"

"…He'll likely have you killed."

"He'll what?!" Emerald began struggling against his hand as hard as she could, desperate to either escape or perhaps simply find a better position to attack Roman from.

"Calm down, doll fac—"

 _"Calm down?!_ You expect me to be calm—"

"Em, you need to listen to me—"

"When you just _conveniently_ forgot to tell me—" she was too disoriented to track the whole of their movements; she struggled against his grasp with both arms and all the while it seemed as if he was struggling to find something to grasp ahold of—and it continued until Emerald found her back only inches away from the bottom landing's wall.

"I didn't mean to—"

"That if I can't impress your psychotic boss—"

"He's surprisingly quite sane, but—"

"Then I'll be killed?! How dare you even try to—"

 _"Emerald!"_ By this point, Roman had finally managed to grab ahold of Emerald's cheeks and hold her steady, managing to snap her out of her rage and bring her eyes back to his as her hands clasped tightly around his wrists. Her breathing was heavy and labored, though she had hardly realized it amid her panic. "I had no intention of putting you in this situation. I had fully intended to let you decide everything yourself."

"You just walked me into a death trap—"

"Give yourself more credit, doll face," he whispered softly, "You can easily walk out of this unscathed. And the challenge only truly starts by the fifth floor."

"You expect me to just play this little game? Like an unwitting pawn?"

"If you play like a pawn you definitely won't make it out of here," Roman noted sardonically. "Use your semblance, and everything else you know about stealth. You have more than enough raw talent to beat this test."

"You didn't give me any choice, you son of a—"

"A small miscalculation on my part," Roman admitted, "but it's nothing for you to worry abo—"

"Nothing to _worry_ about?!"

"Alright, fine, worry about it, doll face. Worry about being caught, and worry about losing. But stop panicking. Think about how you can get past the obstacles in front of you and you will be fine. You shouldn't need me to tell you that."

Emerald felt her breathing begin to even out, the hysteria slowly draining out of her body as she started to relax. "If I get out of this alive, you still have to find yourself a new partner."

"Shame. The reward for beating the test is employment. He won't pay you just for being competent."

"See if I give a damn, jackass. Now hurry up and get your filthy paws off m—" Emerald's grip on his wrists tightened once more as she tried to pull his hands from her cheeks, but in response, his grip tightened, and she found herself locking eyes with him once more. "Let go," she hissed.

"I had one more detail to share with you, doll face. You'd benefit from not being seen for it."

"You are really overstaying your welcome with this semblance thin—"

Emerald cut herself off as Roman's head swung forward, his lips only inches away from her ear. "Stop talking and listen carefully. I need to make sure that you're the only one who hears this. Cinzento's condo is on the ninth floor, but you shouldn't use the stairs or the elevator to get there. There's a service elevator that leads straight to the condo in the north hallway of the fifth floor. Neo used it when she did this, and you'll probably fit in it too. It takes the guards five minutes to circle the floors and you _cannot_ knock them out or be seen. Only worry about disabling cameras if you can't stay in their blind spots. And last but definitely not least, Cinzento's grandchildren call him 'Grandpapa'."

Emerald squinted in confusion at his last tip while he pulled away, but after a brief moment he answered her question by pulling a small picture of two children out of his jacket and passing it to her. "Good luck, doll face."

Emerald looked away from him and snatched the picture as her other hand unconsciously rose to her ear. She heard him let out a soft chuckle, but by the time she fixed her glare back in his direction, he'd already disappeared. She clicked her tongue in annoyance and focused her eyes on the picture in her hand. That had been…a very unexpected turn of events—especially in the realm of what she expected from a man like Roman. Granted, his methods could use some improvement, but…he had helped her calm down. Among other things. Emerald pressed her hand flat against her ear and considered the tips Roman had offered her, hesitating only a moment longer before clicking her tongue in annoyance.

"My ear feels violated," she muttered as she started up the steps towards the ninth floor.

oooOOOooo

Roman supposed that scaring Emerald had been a slight bit unnecessary for how easily she'd ace this test. It would likely only take her a few minutes longer than him to sneak in, and even if her methods were a little…unrefined, Cinzento would be able to recognize her capabilities. Or rather, he hoped so. Roman whistled a soft tune to himself as he strolled down one of the halls of Cinzento's condo towards the foyer, having taken a small detour through the balcony window when the opportunity had presented itself. A moment later her found himself standing by the front door, leaning on his cane and waiting for Cinzento's hired help to greet him. It usually took them a few minutes to work up the humility for it.

After a moment, the sound of footsteps echoed into the foyer as Cinzento's butler—a tall, dull-looking brunette man—stepped slowly out of the living area, pausing a moment to straighten out his waistcoat before turning his nose up and gracing Roman a condescending glare. "I could have sworn I'd taken the garbage out this morning," he spoke in a soft, pretentious drone, "but I see that you unfortunately found your way back in. Again."

"It's good to see you too, Charlie," Roman addressed the man as he strolled forward, "It's been so long since we've had a good chat."

"Mhm. Punctual as usual, aren't we, Torchwick?"

"Hmm…you see, the funny thing about punctuality is that you actually have to schedule a specific time to be late for it. Which I didn't. So by that logic I arrived right on time."

"Wouldn't you like to think so."

"Pennyworth, please stop patronizing our guest."

The butler's gaze flicked back to the room behind him, and Roman grinned slyly before circling around him and pausing in the door frame. "I do believe that's your cue, Charlie. Why don't you go clean up or something? I think the west hall might be in need of your assistance."

The butler swerved towards the hall Roman had come in from, a scowl marring his dull features. "You messed with the portraits again, didn't you?"

"I'm afraid I have no comment."

"You…are the most misbegotten…rotten _scum_ the world has ever known," he stated softly as he stormed towards the hall. "And for the last time," he hissed as he glared daggers back at Roman, "My name is Chartreuse, not Charlie."

"Good talk," Roman chuckled as he strolled into the lavish sitting room, his eyes wandering each pristine corner until his eyes fell on his host. There were few words that described Cinzento beyond old and grey—the man looked quite plain beyond all his wealth and extravagant living, he never dressed in colorful suit and everything about his appearance was dull and blanched. His hair had long since gone grey and stringy, his eyes cold and colorless to match. There was an air of kind, elderly wisdom settled around him, a slow and gentle nature to his movements that seemed only to hide a much older, more sinister instinct. He often gave off the impression of a wolf that had outgrown his prime.

"A pleasure to see you again, Mr. Claro," Roman murmured as he ambled around the couch to find the elderly man reclined against its squashy leather surface, a set of reading glasses perched against his hooked nose and an old novel held up before his worn face.

"I would have expected you a little sooner, my friend," Cinzento replied, his voice soft as he kept his eyes fixed on the page before him. "You know I do hate to be kept waiting."

"I had hoped you might forgive that, seeing as I was attempting to collect a new partner at the time," Roman bowed slightly and smirked as Cinzento's gaze flicked up to him briefly.

"A new one? I would hope that nothing happened to Neo, she's quite the catch."

"Oh, no no, nothing of that sort. It's just that this new venture of yours…it requires a few extra hands."

"So I see," Cinzento pressed a bookmark into the pages of his book before snapping it shut and returning his eyes to Roman. "And this new partner…when were you planning to introduce me to them?"

Roman's smile only widened in response, and as if on a timer, Cinzento's head swerved back towards the door, frowning in confusion as his eyes followed…something.

"Aggie?"

Roman's eye turned up towards the door, and he tilted his head in amusement as Emerald appeared in the door frame. Her brow furrowed into a look of pure contempt and she strode towards the man she was fooling, and Roman had only a second to react before she unsheathed one of her guns and pressed it against his temple. "Don't move," she commanded softly, her voice low and shaky.

By now, the hallucination Cinzento had seen was gone, and after casting a sidelong glance at Emerald, his gazed traveled back to Roman. "This is your new partner?"

"In a manner of speaking," he replied softly, his eyes not leaving Emerald for a second. She certainly knew how to make an entrance. "Do you think you can lower your gun from our client's head now, doll face?"

"Give me a good reason not to kill him."

"Besides the fact that a corpse can't pay us?"

"I already told you that you'd need to find yourself a new partner, so why don't I just save you the trouble of having the job in the first place?"

"That is flawed logic, at best," Roman noted apathetically. "You do realize how ridiculous you're being right now, right?"

" _I'm_ being ridiculous?!" Emerald's eyes shot up towards Roman with a look of utter disbelief and rage. "I just had to play along with this mad man's shitty little test at the risk of my life and _I'm_ the ridiculous one?!"

"Considering that you made it up here in less than twenty minutes and seem just as intact as I left you…yeah, I'd say you're overreacting just a tad."

"You insufferable little—"

"As adorable as this little argument is," Cinzento interjected with a note of amusement, "I am neither young nor patient, so if you two wouldn't mind too much, I'd rather discuss business than play these childish games."

There was a moment of absolute silence, and Roman's eyes flicked between Cinzento's impassive visage and Emerald's emotion riddled face. It was unfortunate that Emerald seemed a little too angry to recognize the real danger to how calm the old man was. "Emerald…lower the gun," Roman warned softly, but the alert did little more than turn her attention away from the danger.

"Like hell I will, you slimy basta—"

Suddenly Emerald was cut off as Cinzento took advantage of her distraction and grabbed the gun from her hand, flipping her and throwing her back-first onto the couch in one swift movement. Emerald almost visibly looked a shade paler as one bony hand pinned her arms and the other forced her own gun into her mouth.

"You have quite the knack for finding the feisty ones, my friend," the old man said indifferently, "but I think this one might be too wild even for your tastes."

"I would rather you didn't do that, Cinzento," Roman replied softly, his eyes locking briefly with the now terror stricken Emerald.

"Oh? And why is that? After all, she seems to have already discarded your partnership, and she clearly holds no love for me, so what is she worth? Talent is nothing without loyalty."

"Loyalty isn't something that grows in under an hour, my friend. Thieves don't trust other thieves very easily either."

"Odd, I wouldn't take you as the kind to try and make new allies like this, Roman."

"Your offer needed a third man. I felt that she's a better match than any mercenary I could hire to help."

"I'm afraid I have to disagree with you on that one. The mercenary would probably have some sense of professionalism," Cintenzo tilted his head slightly and clicked off the safety on Emerald's gun, getting the girl to let out a soft squeak as the man continued. "I'm not sure where you found this one, but I can still smell the streets on her, and I'm not all too interested in handing off a job to a girl who may as well still be in diapers. Nor do I really see any merit in keeping her alive."

"And that's precisely why you shouldn't kill her." Roman waited a moment as Cinzento and Emerald slowly turned their eyes towards him, and he cleared his throat slightly before continuing. "I implore you to look at this objectively, Cinzento. This girl is inexperienced, sloppy, and over-emotional. She's also stubborn and rough around the edges. And yet, despite all this, she got into your condo undetected. She passed a test that is, to my knowledge, designed to be a challenge even for well versed thieves. And she beat it despite displaying all the shortcomings of a beginner. Is that not enough merit?"

"In what sense does that count as merit?"

"Christ, Cinzento, do I really have to spell it out for you…what that all means is that she's got potential. Right now, she's a diamond in the rough, with all the skill and talent of your average thief. Think about how much better she'll be once she _has_ experience. Killing her means that she never has the chance to get better at the occupation. Isn't that a little wasteful?"

Cinzento paused, his brow rose minutely and his lips pursed as he gave the idea some thought. "Perhaps, however, there is the dilemma of her trying to kill me."

"Judging by the fact that you just turned off the safety on that gun, I think we can both assume that she was bluffing. And if it means anything, I don't believe Emerald has never killed anyone before."

"There's a first time for everything."

"Cinzento, _please_ ," Roman's voice inadvertently came out as a plea, and he cleared his throat in an attempt to disguise it. "You know I wouldn't ask you to stop for just anyone."

Cinzento held Emerald down only a few moments more before relaxing and taking the gun out of her mouth, and placing it on the coffee table in front of him. She took a second to react to the sudden freedom, gasping for air as she scrambled to her feet and scampered behind Roman. He let out a soft chuckle as she latched onto the back of his jacket, smiling slightly as he attempted to lighten the mood. "And here I thought you wanted to avoid any and all physical contact with me."

"Shut up," Emerald growled in response, though her voice sounded far too shaken to be intimidating.

"Well, now that we've gotten that out of the way…" Cinzento rose from his seat and folded his arms behind his back. "There are some matters we have yet to discuss regarding your employment. Feel free to follow me to the study once you've composed yourselves." With that, the elderly man ambled out of the living room, and Emerald let out a shuddered breath as he disappeared from view.

"If that's your definition of sanity, I don't want to know what you think insanity looks like," she stammered. Roman sighed as he felt her hands trembling, her breathing still labored as the panic he'd seen earlier returned full force. He briefly pondered over whether dealing with all her tantrums would really be worth her improvement—he wasn't exactly fond of babysitting.

"If he was insane, you actually would be dead right now," Roman reached back and detached the girl from his jacket. He turned on his heels to look at her, only to have her keep her eyes glued to the floor. "You can't reason with a madman that easily."

"Good to know."

"I'm guessing it'd be fruitless to ask if you're okay?"

"Do I _look_ okay to you?"

"No, you look like you're hyperventilating."

"Well no fucking shit!" Emerald spat shakily before Roman let out another soft sigh and pulled her head up against his chest. She struggled slightly against him, but it seemed as if she wasn't completely opposed to the comfort.

"Christ…you really are a handful, doll face…"

"I don't know if this is your idea of helping, jackass, but you better get your hands off me ri—"

"Would you kindly shut up?" Roman interjected softly, "Stop trying to be tough and focus on breathing normally." Emerald stopped trying to struggle, and he wrapped his other arm over her shoulders as he heard her let out a small whimper. "You're safe now, kid. He's not going to do that again. Well, provided you don't point a gun at him again—" Emerald let out another shuddered breath, and Roman glanced down at her. "—but I don't get the impression that you'll be trying that again any time soon."

"Are jobs like this always this dangerous?"

"Honestly? No. You simply have a knack for dramatics."

Emerald snorted. "That's funny coming from you."

"I have no idea what you're implying."

"Like hell you don't." A silence settled awkwardly between them, leading her to let out a light cough. "Um. You can let go now, Torchwick."

"…Right," Roman pulled his arms away from Emerald and stepped back. She rubbed her eyes with one arm before looking up at Roman hesitantly.

"If you tell anyone about this, I'll make you my first kill."

"Noted. Now then," Roman clapped his hands together and smirked at her. "You think you're ready to join Cinzento in his study?"

She let out a short huff at that. "…Let's get this over with."

oooOOOooo

 _Gemthief trash Peeves reporting in and…yeah, with the amount that happens in these two segments, they could probably stand on their own. Also sorry if Emerald at all seems off in this, I just see her younger inexperienced self as being rather panicky if a situation is a danger to her life. So…I got one review with a question…_

 _Minesniper: Well we have to get to a point where they're close enough to **be** driven apart, now don't we?_

 _I think my muse for this is actually starting to get a little stronger, so I may be back quite soon._

 _Gemthief trash Peeves out until next chapter._


	4. Dress for Success

**Dress for Success**

She wasn't sure what she'd expected Cinzento to discuss with them after the earlier fiasco, but it hadn't been quite so…underwhelming—not that she minded the difference. As she and Roman entered the study, Cinzento sat at the desk, counting a moderately large stack of lien. Emerald's eyes narrowed in confusion at that, but she tried to shake off her unease as she followed Roman further into the room.

"I suppose you'll want your advance payment, my friend…" the elderly man said as readjusted the spectacles still perched on his nose. "Your typical ten percent should do?"

"Five percent is more than enough to cover my expenses on this one," Roman spoke casually, "In fact, if you could, sort out two thirds of that for expenses, and one third for doll face over here."

At that, Cinzento paused, his gaze slowly locking onto Emerald and making her jolt with further unease. His eyes were still cold and callous, and the frown on his face spoke volumes on his opinion of the idea. "Are you certain on that one?" he replied as his eyes returned to the money on his desk, "If you give a wild dog too long a leash, it will run from you."

Emerald growled instinctively at the comparison, only to retreat behind Roman as the old man's eyes flicked back to her.

"If you don't want me to compare you to a dog, I recommend not acting like one."

"Ahem," Roman cut in, "To answer your question, Cinzento…yes, I'm sure. I agreed to give Emerald a third of our pay, it only stands that she should get a third of the advance as well."

"…Very well…five hundred thousand for any expenses, two hundred and fifty thousand for your new pet."

Emerald shot another glare at the old man, but he ignored her as Roman strolled forward to take the lien outstretched in his hand. "This'll do perfectly," Roman noted with a smirk, "Now then. The job request said that there were some details you would need to discuss in person. Would you care to elaborate?"

"And uh, feel free to elaborate on all of the details," Emerald added, "since someone didn't feel like telling me anything about this job on the way over. Well, anything beyond the price tag."

Cinzento sighed, his eyes flitted between the two for a moment. "I'm hiring you to steal a very old and very important statue from a masquerade being held roughly a month from now. The statue will be the very centerpiece of the display and will only be available during the party, so you will need to be able to steal it out of a crowded room virtually undetected. To my knowledge, your girl Neo's semblance works quite well to that effect."

"On some level. She'd probably have some difficulty carrying it. Isn't it her size or something?"

"Very nearly."

"Hm. That'll be a fun issue to work around."

"In any case, the details I had to share with you here…" Cinzento leaned back in his chair and opened one of the desk drawers. "I do not currently know the location of the party. They usually give the party guests an exact location two and a half weeks before the Masque, but tell us what the celebrated pieces are before then. I was able to snag an invitation plus one for you, Roman. Unfortunately…" Cinzento's gaze veered towards Emerald. "I wasn't aware that you'd have more company."

"You think he's good enough to steal a heavy artifact from a crowded room of rich snobs? With a team of just two people?" Emerald snorted a bit. "Honestly, even with three people, that's pushing it a bit."

"Your vote of confidence is most appreciated," Roman replied wryly.

"Just pointing out the obvious fact that this sounds like a suicide mission."

"Not a very brave girl, is she?" Cinzento commented as he pulled a small card out of the desk.

"Bravery's not exactly a common trait in thieves," Roman replied.

"Bravery and stupidity aren't the same thing. The risk level on this is insane, Torchwick. Do you really think you can pull it off?"

"Provided you play your role?" Roman turned back towards Emerald and strolled towards her, holding out a sizable amount of lien to her with his usual smirk ever present on his face. "Yes, I do think I can pull this off, doll face."

Emerald found herself at a loss for words; she wasn't sure whether to rate his confidence as a sign of his stupidity or…appreciate how much faith he seemed to have in her capabilities. Her thoughts traveled back to other comments he'd made not too long ago. His opinion of her…seemed oddly positive and…informed. Had he really been paying such close attention to her? She didn't know whether or not to be flattered or disgusted by the notion. It had occurred to her in the past hour or so that she hadn't really given Roman much room to be anything other than an arrogant ass—which he was, of course—but it wasn't like she couldn't have paid as much attention to him as he'd paid her.

Emerald glanced between Roman and the stack of lien hesitantly before he leaned forward and spoke softly. "Just take it. Consider it a reward for being competent." Emerald scowled and snatched the money out of his hand, making him chuckle a little as he turned back to Cinzento. "Now with that sorted…I suppose you want me to take that invite now?"

"I would," Cinzento held the card towards Roman, and he walked back to the desk to retrieve it, "Keep it safe until the Masque."

"Will do, Mr. Claro."

"Good. I will send the party location and blueprints over to one of your deposit boxes once they are available to me. We'll meet at our usual drop spot after the party, and until then I expect you to stay out of my condo."

"I can't even drop in for tea?"

Cinzento cracked a smile at that. "As enjoyable as that sounds, I do think that Pennyworth might have a conniption if I allowed it."

"Now now, Mr. Claro, you shouldn't give me such good ideas," Roman replied as he turned on his heels, and impish smirk playing at his lips as he walked back towards the door. Emerald turned to walk with him as he reached her, still scowling a little as she clutched what was now a somewhat crumpled roll of lien.

"That's it?" she muttered once they were out of earshot. "He doesn't have any more helpful information?"

"Oh, trust me doll face, that information was more than helpful. It's enough for us to work with for one and a half weeks, at the least."

Emerald's grip on the lien tightened as she brought her hand up to look at it. "…So this is mine?"

"I believe I made that clear a few minutes ago."

"And I could leave now, if I wanted to."

There was a pause in his reply. His smile widened. "…You could," he graced her with a sidelong glance. "but something about that question gives me the impression that you're having second thoughts about doing so."

"No," Emerald retorted, faltering only just as she locked eyes with him. "N—No. Just…curious about what you'd have planned next if I didn't leave."

He chuckled as he opened the front door and they stepped out into the hall. "Well, I was thinking we could start with some team building exercises."

oooOOOooo

"I hate you."

"Mhm."

"I hate you and your bad plans."

"You don't say…"

"This is a bad idea. This is a fantastically bad idea. Why did I let you talk me into this?"

"Curiosity, I suppose? And, not that I don't generally love our chats, doll face, but I am trying to pick a vault lock right now, so if you would be kind enough to keep watch as planned…"

"Mm, right make sure the guards don't see us, okay, sure. We're literally robbing a bank in broad daylight, how has anyone not noticed us?"

Roman sighed and looked up at Emerald. "Because I used my semblance to get us back here and disabled the cameras on the way? Now if you could just keep watch…" He supposed he should have expected this a little. He hadn't gotten Em fully on board yet, but with her curiosity (and amusement) piqued by the concept of team building exercises, he'd taken her here for a…surprise job.

"You disabled the cameras?"

"Yes. Of course, they'll only be out for five more minutes…aha. Vault's open." Roman grinned at her as the round metal door between them began to open. "Now wasn't that easy?"

"Not as easy as getting out of here better be."

"Oh don't be a spoil sport, doll face, you know it's more fun if it's a challenge." Roman walked into the vault and looked around. He glanced back at Emerald, who was standing hesitantly in the vault doorway. "Well, doll face? Are you going to help me out here, or are you just gonna enjoy the scenery?"

She scowled before following him in. "So how exactly were you planning on cleaning this place out in less than five minutes? We don't exactly have bags on us."

He snorted. "Clean it out? Please. We don't need to draw that much attention to ourselves. Just stuff a few stacks into your pockets so we have some pocket change."

"I think your idea of pocket change might need a little editing, moron," Em muttered as she stomped forward towards a shelf.

Roman smiled, his teeth clenched as he bit back the urge to insult her back. He needed to play nice, win her over. He watched her shuffle through the stacks of lien for a moment before smirking and sauntering over to her. She flinched as he leaned over her and examined the two stacks of lien. He smirked a little wider before plucking one out of her right hand and appraising it further. His smirk faded softly as he locked eyes with her again. "I suppose you would be…brilliant enough to pick out the one stack of bugged counterfeits."

She flustered severely, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging slightly ajar, before she snatched another stack and shoved it into her pocket instead. "Sh-Shut it."

He chuckled as set the stack down and leaned into her space once more to grab some lien of his own. "Make me, doll face."

"Don't tempt me," she growled.

"Ohhh, is that a threat I hear?"

"Oh trust me, I'll be delivering on it real soon if you don't shut your godda—"

Roman covered Em's mouth as a shout and the static sound of a radio drew his attention outside the vault. He smirked as he heard the hasty footsteps approaching the door. Two sets. He locked eyes with Emerald and pressed a finger to his lips before sneaking over to press his back against the front wall and motioning at her to join him. She frowned at him before following his lead, and then they waited. A few seconds passed. Then two guards crept in one looking scared, and the other, determined. Roman grabbed onto Emerald's wrist as they came in, utilizing his semblance as soon as they walked in. He waited for them to clear the door. Slowly.

Once they'd gotten to the middle of the small vault room, he bolted out with Em in tow, and began pushing the vault door closed. Emerald caught on quick and began to help him, and he grinned at her as it latched closed before sliding over to the panel he'd hacked to get in. The alarms sounded as he did, drawing his gaze upwards for a couple seconds before he returned to his task.

"What are you doing?!" Emerald shouted. "We have to go, now!"

"One second, doll face…" he let out a breathy chuckle, "If I'm going to do a crime as juvenile as a bank heist, I simply have to include a little juvenile prank…" Roman fiddled with the keypad a few seconds more, then grabbed her by the hand and ran down the back hall just as another group of security guards rounded the corner.

"So what was your genius plan on getting us out of here?!"

"Easy!" he laughed. "It's just two rights and a left!"

"I wasn't asking for directions!"

"Just trust me, doll face!" Roman turned right down the hall, smiling at the empty hall. He'd studied the security measures in this bank before, and this hall was always the weakest link.

"Torchwick, I didn't trust you _before_ you dragged me on your crazy bank heist!"

He clicked his tongue in annoyance and rounded the second right before dragging them both under the lowering cage of a service staircase to their left. "Come on, we've only got a few more minutes before the garage doors are done closing."

"We're going out through the car park?"

"I mean unless you have a better idea," Roman grinned up at her, and she flustered again as they ran down the steps.

"I—I could have, you know."

"I'm sure, doll face. Now hop to it, our window is closing."

"Stop yanking me along, I can run on my own!"

"Yes, but can you have invisibility on your own?"

"I—" Emerald cut herself off for a moment, and he couldn't help but glance back at her. He could damn near see the cogs turning in her head. "Wait, you're still using your semblance?"

"No, the guards are just really inattentive," he answered.

"You aren't gonna win me over with sarcasm!"

Roman laughed as they ducked under the garage door and kept running down the street. They turned into a back alley, and turned down another, and the next, and the next until the police sirens sounded like they were miles away. Roman slowed his pace and let go of Em's hand, leaning his weight on the building behind him as he caught his breath. Emerald followed suit and leaned on the building across from him. He watched her for a few moments, noting the way she looked in the direction of the police sirens and grinned. He laughed softly, catching her attention as he did. "So are you gonna admit it?"

"Admit what?" she asked, her smile fading entirely.

"That this was fun."

Em tilted her head, her eyes trailed back towards the police sirens. Her head turned again, as if she was considering if further. She smirked softly as she looked back at him. "I suppose it was alright." She crossed her arms. "So what now?"

"Oh?" he smirked. "Does this mean I actually have won you over?"

"It means I'm reconsidering the job," Em corrected, "If you tell me what's next."

"Well…we just fell into a bit of money, so…" Roman straightened up off the wall and leaned towards Emerald. "Let's go shopping."

oooOOOooo

Emerald was starting to curse her own curiosity. Sure, the bank heist had been fun, but having Roman drive them back to the uptown markets and following him into a dress store, of all things? She did not look like she belonged in this store. She knew it, the saleswomen knew it, and hell, Roman probably knew it too. He'd, of course, had the option of _changing_ —apparently it wasn't prudent to wear what you wore at the scene of a crime you committed less than an hour ago—so he'd ditched his bowler hat and coat in place of a form fitting, burgundy long-sleeved shirt. She was left in the same attire, and ratty green capris and a worn tank top weren't the sort of thing people wore into this store, but it was too late to just…wait outside. She hugged herself as Roman looked through the dress racks. He glanced her way for a second, then chuckled.

"And what are you so nervous about, exactly?"

"What are we doing here?"

"Buying you a dress for the masque. Maybe some…nicer clothes for later, if you want."

"I'm not big on dresses."

"Well that's a shame, but the masque it a formal, so I will need my plus one to be properly dressed."

"Your plus one?" Emerald frowned in confusion, and as Roman picked a black floor length gown off the rack and held it up to her, his meaning finally clicked. "Wait. You wanted me to be your plus one? What about what's her face?"

Roman smirked and leaned in uncomfortably close to her face. She tried to back away but he caught her by the wrist. "Easy, Em," he whispered, "I'm only putting on a show for the audience." His one visible eye flicked to a saleswoman to her right before returning to her. "I have an idea of what to do about Neo that I'll happily share with you later, does that sound good?"

Emerald bit her lip and fought the urge to glance over at the saleswoman. She paused before feigning a saccharine sweet smile. "You not touching me would sound a lot better," she whispered back.

"Atta girl." Roman straightened up and examined the gown he'd held up to her. She continued to smile sweetly as she looked down at it as well, and she heard him chuckle as he lifted it off. "We'll mark this as a maybe," he folded the gown over his arm and returned to the rack. "You truly are a natural, doll face."

Emerald watched him for a moment, then looked away, idly fingering through a few of the dresses. She stalled on a mint green satin gown with a large skirt before looking back up at him. "Did you mean it?"

"Did I mean what?" Roman pulled another dress off the rack, this one a wine-colored silk garment with thin, golden detail work.

"Those things you said to your boss. About my skill level."

"Hm," Roman held the dress up to her for a moment before draping it over his arm with the other one and pulling the mint gown she'd paused on from the rack. "Why would I not mean it?"

"Because you're a liar."

"Well I am, but why would I lie about you?"

Emerald frowned as he held the mint gown up to her. "…I…I'm not following."

He leaned in close again. "I wouldn't have offered you a role in this job if I didn't think you had the chops to pull it off, doll face. You have all the necessary skills for our line of work, and even a few…extra assets. All I did was make an investment in your potential."

Her eyes traveled across his face, and then she finally realized how close he was. She fought back the urge to scowl and put on a soft yet false smile. "You know how to make everything sound creepy, don't you?"

"I aim to please."

"Hmm," Her smile widened, "Now get out of my personal bubble. Before I bite you."

"Kinky."

"Gross," Emerald's nose wrinkled in disgust as Roman grinned and straightened up, his attention returning to the ball gowns. "Didn't you say I was too young for you, old man?"

"Slightly," Roman cast her a sidelong look of bemusement, "but I can never resist a good quip when I see one. Hmm…this should be enough for now…see any others that catch your eye?"

Emerald glanced back at the rack, shuffled through a few dresses and paused at a deep forest green gown. It was strapless, with a shaped wire pattern trailing up each side, cupping the bust of the gown and ending just above the top hem. It was…pretty. Roman leaned obnoxiously close to her again to get a look at it, he tilted his head, checked the tag and nodded his approval. "Elegant. It seems you do have some taste after all. Now then." Roman picked the gown off the rack. "You'll need to try these on."

She withered a little. "Do I have to?"

"Well considering we don't know how they'll fit, yes."

Emerald groaned. "This is why I hate dresses."

oooOOOooo

"This is stupid."

"Mm. I hadn't gathered that. Not like it's the fiftieth time you've said that or anything."

"I look stupid."

"I'll be the judge of that. Now open up," Roman rapped his knuckles against the dressing room stall, sighing a bit to himself as he did.

"Let me get the zipper up first, dammit."

"Language, darling."

"English, asshole. This looks dumber than the last one. And the last one didn't fit."

"Actually, the last one fit perfectly. It's not my fault you don't think you can pull off skin tight red."

"Oh I know I can pull it off, I just like being able to walk."

"Well you know what they say, practice makes perfect. Now open up."

"Fine…"

The door to the dressing room creaked open, and Emerald shuffled out in the mint colored dress, which could only be described as the puffiest, most shamelessly princess style ballgown he'd ever seen. He failed to withhold a snort. "Wow, you…you could not be a Cinderella. Ever."

"Oh, thank you for your stunning vote of confidence," Emerald smiled sarcastically. "I'm taking this disaster off now."

"Last dress," Roman reminded her in a singsong-ey voice.

"Thank god." Em slammed the dressing room door behind her. And Roman leaned his head back on the wall. This venture had gone far longer than he'd expected it to, and he couldn't help but feel like he was forgetting something, but other than that, everything was going smoothly. Emerald seemed willing to play along now, he'd paid off the clerks to keep quiet a moment ago, now all that was left for today was to return home and go over the job details with both Neo and Emerald.

"Huh."

Roman snapped out of his thoughts and looked back at the door. "What?"

"For a dress, I think I actually like this one."

"Oh?"

"I still don't like it, so don't get your hopes up or anything."

"Too late, doll face, I am positively _brimming_ with excitement."

"Shut up."

"Make me."

She groaned loudly. "I'm coming out."

The door swung open again, and he locked eyes with Emerald for a split moment before his eyes trailed down to her dress. And…it looked far more elegant on her body than it did on the rack. The dark green embroidery hugged her curves in all the right places, and the wire in the top supported her breasts and the thin layers of sheer fabric covering them, before it curled up to the skin just shy of her collarbone. The dress thinned at her waist, leaving her sides and her back naked to the air until the fabric wrapped back over her hips and connected in the back, leading into a flowing translucent skirt that teased with the outline of two very pretty legs. The sort of legs that Roman didn't tend to see on a teenager. His eyes returned to hers, and he tilted his head impassively. "You look like you're in your early twenties in that."

She frowned. "…Okay. Is that a compliment or an insult?"

Roman shrugged. "Compliment. If you'd been wearing that when we met I might have offered to buy you a drink."

"Gross."

"Oh, don't worry, doll face," he grinned, "I know better now. Any complaints with that one?"

"Hmm…the back's a little cold."

"You'll have a shawl at the masque, so that won't be a problem."

"You want me to show off all this gorgeous skin just to cover it up?"

Emerald smirked as she spoke, and Roman grinned wider in turn. "My my, someone's modest."

She exaggerated a pout. "It's not easy to look this good, not that you would know."

"Excuse you," he retorted with a laugh, "I'll have you know that this is a winning face on both sides of the aisle."

"Mm…I don't see the appeal."

"Oh shut up."

Emerald grinned ear to ear at that. "Make me."

He sighed. "I suppose I walked into that one."

"You think?"

"Don't push your luck, doll face," Roman smirked. "We're getting that one and the red one, by the way."

She scowled a little, her shoulders drooped as she stomped back into the dressing room. "Party pooper," she muttered as she closed the door. "and I'm not gonna wear the red one, why are we taking it?"

"Practice."

"Like hell I will. It's just gonna collect dust in your closet."

"I was thinking dance practice," Roman clarified. He heard the clattering behind the door quiet as Emerald paused. "I'm not wrong to assume you don't have any experience with ballroom dancing, am I?"

"Why would the red dress help with that?"

"Well I figure that if you can dance in that you can probably dance in any other dress."

"I feel like your logic is flawed." The door to the dressing room swung open again to reveal Emerald, now dressed back in her normal clothes with all four dresses draped over one arm. "Or that you're just an old creep that likes playing dress up with girls who are way too young for you."

Roman twitched at that, but did his best not to scowl. He really hated being called old. "Nice try, but no."

"Could've fooled me," she shrugged as she walked over to hang up the black and mint gowns.

"Sure, doll face," Roman stood up off the wall he was leaning on and walked up behind her. "Sure."

"Standing directly behind me is not helping your case."

He managed a tight smile in response. "Just pass me the dresses so I can pay." Em looked back at him in confusion, and he held a hand out to her impatiently. She frowned further, but slowly held the dresses out to him, which he snatched from her rather forcefully before striding over to the register. He let out a heavy sigh at the register, earning a similar look of confusion from the store clerk before he masked it with a smile. "Long day," he murmured as he pulled a few large lien notes from his wallet and gave them to the clerk. He stuffed the change into the tip jar and took the bagged dresses, followed closely by a now very confused Emerald. She didn't say anything until they got out to the car, and even then, it wasn't a question about his sudden shift in mood.

"So…what next? Are you gonna take me home now?"

"…No," he replied after a beat.

"…Where are we going then?"

"Back to my place," he looked at her briefly, "We have to have one more coworker to brief."

oooOOOooo

 _Gemthief trash Peeves reporting in and…yeah, I know, I've been gone for a year. If it's any consolation I made this chapter super long to make up for it. So…a lot's happened in a year. I had two six class semesters, I kinda…stopped watching RWBY (volumes 1-3 will always have a special place in my art, except for 3-11, that fucker can burn) and I had some really severe writer's block for a while. I know, excuses excuses, but it's the best I can do. I'm gonna try to release a chapter for this every few months but I really make no promises. So yeah…stay tuned. I'll be back._

 _Gemthief trash Peeves out until next chapter._


	5. PSA

**ALL FICS PSA**

So…before you all lynch me for faking you out, yes, this is not a story update. This is an update on the state of things, a tell all to let you know where in production stage my stories are and to update you on the state of my life and why it's taking so long. So. To begin with the latter…for those of you not already aware, I'm a college student, and as of last semester, an upperclassman. Now last semester I had six classes and that was the reasoning behind my packed schedule, this semester I'm back down to five but I'm also working two jobs and I'm prepping for a school trip to California and doing an amount of work to follow a class I'm not in during my free time.

I've had about…no time to sit down and write in the past month and a half so nothing is being written right now. In fact, for now it is safe to assume that unless I say otherwise (and even if I say otherwise let's be honest here) nothing is in production between late August and mid-December, and nothing is in production between mid-January and early May. So that's the state of my life right now, for those of you that have been asking. As for those of you who have been asking about my fics (mostly about, surprise surprise, Still Dreaming), I'm gonna list the state of each of my fics below here, so if you're waiting on more than one and your inbox is flooded with emails about this one chapter for all of them (Sorry m8) you only have to check one fic to know the state of all of them. So the list goes as follows:

1\. **Still Dreaming:** and after over a year of time to work on it and all the fans asking, the 30th chapter of Still Dreaming is…! …not started yet. I…I'm really sorry guys. I have the entire thing planned out, it's gonna be super long, its gonna tie everything up, it will be the last chapter of this fic and…my muse is completely uncooperative. Now I write fast once my inspiration strikes so I will try to work on and get it done for this coming winter break, but I know myself well enough to not make promises.

2\. **In the Arms of a Thief:** So I actually finished of the rough draft of the upcoming chapter a few weeks ago, but life got busy and my keyboard is currently sticking on several keys so transcribing it onto a computer has been a grueling process

3\. **The Worst Timing:** Much like the readers of Still Dreaming I'm sure all of you are either tired of waiting or no longer interested. Unfortunately, much like Still Dreaming, I have not started the next chapter, and honestly I can't remember where I was going with it. In all likelihood if I can't remember I might pull this story from my library so as not to immerse any other poor souls in it only to leave them hanging (if you still want access to the story you should be able to download it and if you can't just pm me)

4\. **And Hope Died with Her:** Well I have the chapter number written! -kicks self- Okay so honestly this one is extremely uncomfortable for me to write and I struggle to make decisions on it. It might be pulled like The Worst Timing

5\. **Team RRBY:** y'all should know that I posted this prematurely, before I was ready to focus the necessary amount of energy on this au. I want to work on this, and the second chapter is started I just…am very busy.

6\. **Grimm:** Like RRBY, the second chapter is started. It's just not complete.

7\. **Delusions of Grandeur:** So if you're on AO3 you might have noticed that this is your second update today…sorry, that's because I kept forgetting to post the most recent chapter. Either way, you'll be pleased to know that this fic is the most up to date—the last update is recent even on ffn and the next 14 chapters are planned out.

8\. **Frozen Hearts and Stolen Peaches/Neighbors:** I know that between both of these groups there are maybe 20 of you so I'm just combining the section, because it's pretty much the same message. The next installment is started. Just sit tight

9\. **Spelling Lessons:** …I am so sorry. I'm actually overhauling and restarting this because when I started it, there weren't that many episodes out for Little Witch Academia and I had six classes that slowly drowned m and kept me from writing. I based most of my decisions on headcanons that now have, for the most part, been disproven, so I'm going back and playing with the plot a little more. For the sake of it, the first chapter will likely remain the same. The second is up in the air.

And that's everything. I hope this clears everything up. I'll be back as soon as I can.


End file.
